ESL Forum:
Techniques and methods
in Language Teaching
Games, activities
and teaching ideas
Grammar and
Linguistics
Teaching material
Concerning
worksheets
Concerning
powerpoints
Concerning online
exercises
Make suggestions,
report errors
Ask for help
Message board
|
ESL forum >
Ask for help > There ´s something very wrong with this sentence...
There ´s something very wrong with this sentence...
Lana.
|
There ´s something very wrong with this sentence...
|
What?
If I got the earlier bus, I ____________ (can) come home at 5 o ´clock. |
3 Feb 2010
|
|
|
Yulia Mo
|
Mmmm... It ´s evening and my head isn ´t working properly. I don ´t see what ´s wrong. I would say If I got the earlier bus i would be able to come home at 5 o ´clock.
|
3 Feb 2010
|
|
anitarobi
|
If I got the earlier bus, I could come home at 5 o ´clock. - should be correct but sounds strange...
If I had caught the earlier bus, I could have come home at 5 o ´clock. - sounds a lot better to me (sorry about changing GET into CATCH, it ´s just my nature) |
3 Feb 2010
|
|
sa3ida
|
HI LANA
it ´s really confusing but I think a possible answer can be the following:
....... I would be able to come......
but wait a minute, here in this sentence what should be put between parenthesis is the verb "to come", because the whole type of conditional, I mean the unreal conditional provides an imaginary result for a given situation, it means impossibility so the most accurate answer is: I would come home at 5....
|
3 Feb 2010
|
|
Olindalima ( F )
|
What about "be able" instead of can? .... I would be able to ... ? If there is a cruise I wanna join, ok? Don ´t forget friends.LOL Have a nice day. linda
|
3 Feb 2010
|
|
mimau
|
I agree with ladybird : if I had got...I could have come...but I ´d rahter use If I had caught
Bye
Sylvie |
3 Feb 2010
|
|
|
conqueror_mko
|
earlier bus or previous bus ? is the mistake here ? ( lol ) |
3 Feb 2010
|
|
Zora
|
This looks like one of those silly cases of using "can" instead of "be able to"...
I ´ve often come across exercises where the teachers wanted students to realise that it should be "be able to" instead of "can". Silly though since it ´s not exactly the same verb...
If I got the earlier bus, I would be able to come home at 5 o ´clock.
|
3 Feb 2010
|
|
Lana.
|
Guys,
you can all win tons of love from me forever and ever, and for eternity. When I ´m millionnaire I ´ll take you all on a cruise.
I agree with Anita -
If I got the earlier bus I could come home at 5 o ´clock. - OK, sounds correct but strange, because it looks as if the speaker is imagining the situation (2nd conditional), but "the" makes it a very realistic bus - which bus? "the earlier bus".
Now,
If I had got the earlier bus I could have come home at 5 o ´clock (missed opportinity).
So, what I should do is probably change "the" for "an" -
If I got an earlier bus I could come home at 5 o ´clock... (imagining this standing at a bus stop).
Am I right? |
3 Feb 2010
|
|
pollyanna_pl
|
Hi, I would think "the earlier bus" = the earlier of the two we are considering, so it can still be a hypothetical bus. To me "if I got the earlier bus, I could come home at five" sounds fine. What is also implied, to my ears, is "I suppose I could, but it´s rather difficult, or at any rate, do I really want to do that?" Does it make sense?
|
3 Feb 2010
|
|
1
2
Next >
|